You must enter the characters with black color that stand out from the other characters

By Amanda Lamb

I can honestly say that Halloween is probably my daughters' favorite holiday.

Sure, they love getting candy, but more importantly, they love dressing up. Every year my mother sends them a catalogue with Halloween costumes for them to pick from. Usually, they both choose one. The costumes then become part of our very large dress-up collection that is housed in boxes next to the makeshift stage in our finished basement where I watch many shows featuring my girls and their friends.

This year, my older daughter chose some combination of an angel and a witch. Don't ask me. I don't really get it. All I know is that it involves a lot of tattered gray lace. My younger daughter decided to put a costume together from items we already had to make herself into a pop star. The only item I had to purchase was a blue wig. This process of deciding what they will be, and then figuring out all the details of their costumes begins weeks before the actual holiday.

On the big day, it is required that I do not work because I cannot guarantee getting home early enough to help them get their costumes on and be ready to trick or treat the second the sun sets. Usually, they also want me to dress up. Luckily, with so many costumes in the dress-up box from years past, I don't have a hard time finding something I can pull together pretty quickly. Candy bags, flashlights, and with at least a dozen neighborhood friends in tow, we head out for the big night.

Not much has changed about our ritual over the years except that they run a little faster, and don't need me to be as close as they go to the door. They last a little longer, and urge me to allow them to do "one more street" before calling it a night. They still give me all of their chocolate containing nuts (my older daughter is allergic). They still beg me to allow them to eat a few pieces before bed, and then they divide and negotiate trades before putting their stash in a plastic pumpkin with their names on them. They also give their parents stern warnings about pilfering their candy while they sleep. Us? Never.

In the morning, there is always something left of Halloween. Some glitter in someone's hair, a chocolate smear on someone's mouth, remnants of makeup on someone's cheek. I am reminded that yet another Halloween has passed too quickly.

Someone said to me the other day, "when you are raising children, the days may seem long, but the years are short." I wholeheartedly agree.

Amanda is the mom of two, a reporter for WRAL-TV and the author of several books including two on motherhood. Find her here on Mondays.

kcastleberryOct 31, 2011

I'd say your oldest daughter's costume looks like the Gray Lady Ghost. Cool costume. Yes, Halloween is much anticipated around here too and we rarely buy a costume. We also have a big stash to pull from. I buy pieces at thrift stores to add to what we have during the year so we rarely need to buy anything more than colored hairspray, makeup, etc. Here the whole family dresses up. We love Halloween!

missparrotheadOct 31, 2011

egwralcom- I agree wholeheartedly. Walk, don't be lazy!If you can't to as many houses, then so be it.

egwralcomOct 31, 2011

I don't understand why parents are now driving their children up and down the block for trick-or-treating. My group is walking (or running) as usual, but there are cars creeping down the street, stopping at each house to disgorge a kid who runs up, gets candy, and runs back to the car to ride the 200 feet to the next driveway. When did this start up? Are the kids really so lazy they can't put forth the effort to go beg for candy? Or are the parents so lazy they can't be bothered to walk with their kids?